Recipe: Sake Lees Soup with Root Vegetables

All those beautiful Facebook/Instagram photos of the fall foliage from Japan tell me that fall is getting deeper and deeper there, and winter is right around the corner.

People in Japan(or everywhere) love to celebrate seasons in many ways, like visiting countryside or park to enjoy transitions of landscape, decorating the houses, attending cultural events and traditional festivals, and of course, cooking seasonal dishes.

Today's recipe is Kasujiru, Sake Lees soup with winter root vegetables.

Kasu is a lee left over from sake production, but it is too good just to be "leftovers". It looks like cheese but tastes and smells exactly like sake. It's used for marinading or flavoring for fish, meat, or even for desserts. Not only cooking, it is also used to make facial masks for anti-aging.

Kasu is packed with nutrition such as protein, vitamin B1, B2, B6 and minerals. In the cold season, some people make Amazake(rice wine) from Kasu to strengthen the immune system and stay healthy during winter.

In the US, it can be purchased in any Japanese grocery store, usually sold in frozen food section.

Sakekasu

First time I used Sake Kasu was when I was working in Kyoto where there are many famous sake breweries. My senior coworker Mrs Yamamoto brought Sake Kasu to share with us, and she suggested making Kasujiru. The winter in Kyoto was brutal, the cold winds chilled my bones but I could survive it with this hearty Kasujiru.

Kasujiru is perfect for cold days, especially with root vegetables which keep our body warm and are rich in anti-oxidants.

粕汁
Kasu jiru: Sake Lees Soup

Ingredients for 4:

• Sake kasu: 6oz
• Chicken thigh: 4oz cut into bite size
• Carrot: 2oz, peeled and sliced
• Daikon radish: 3oz. peeled, cut into half and sliced
• Japanese sweet potato: 3 oz, cut into half and sliced
• Gobo(Burdock): peeled and sliced
• Dry shiitake mushrooms: 1 oz. stem removed
• Scallions: 1/2 cup, thinly sliced
• Warm water: 5 cups
• Miso: 2 tbsp
• Pinch of salt
• Shichimi red pepper to taste(Optional)

<Prep>

1. To make kasu mixture, crumble kasu into a small bowl and add 1/2 cup of water(additional) to soften, set aside.
2. To make dashi stock, soak shiitake in 5 cups of warm water for 20 minutes, take out shiitake and squeeze liquid  to drain, and reserve the liquid and mushroom separately.

Steps: 

1. Heat dashi stock in a pot, put carrot, daikon, sweet potato, burdock and shiitake. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 minutes
2. Add chicken and shimmer until vegetables and chicken are cooked
3. Add Kasu mixture and pinch of salt, gently stir, simmer for 1 minute
4. Make miso paste: In a small bowl, take out 1/2 cups of liquid from the pot, add miso and whisk until smooth
5. Turn off the heat and stir in Miso paste. Serve with scallions and red pepper.

In this recipe I used chicken, but also salmon fillet or thinly sliced pork works well.

Kasu still contains alcohol but it will be gone in the process of cooking with heat. I still have a lot of leftover kasu sheets, so I am thinking about making sweet rice wine sometime soon... if I do I will let you know how it goes!